“Is that all right with you, Fletcher?” she asked.
“Suppose so.” The boy eyed Kendrick. “What are you doin’?”
“We’re going to be making a change to the way reavers behave in London,” Kendrick said. “Making a change to many things. I’ll find you when it’s time, Jenny. You have plenty of time to make friends with the dog.” So, he hadn’t missed the lump under the covers. “Has it a name?” he asked Fletcher.
“Wulfric. Out o’ the book.”
Kendrick chuckled. Genevieve broke into a wide smile at the thought of the faithful friend of Sigestan living on in a dog, also a faithful friend. “What a wonderful thought, Fletcher. If you learned your letters, you could read all manner of stories in time,” Genevieve coaxed, reaching for the book on the bedside table. “Shall I show you a few and then read another chapter?”
“Suppose that would be all right, missus,” he said, his eager eyes belying his blasé words. “What am I to call you now?”
Genevieve looked up at Kendrick. “Well, we haven’t really discussed it. But I don’t think it would be too improper for you to call me Miss Genevieve for now.”
“And you’re all right with watching him?” Genevieve asked Elspeth again as the time drew close for the assembly Kendrick wished to hold.
“Yes, of course,” Elspeth said. “He’s asleep, anyway. And you’ll be back before dawn—at least I expect so.”
“That is the plan.”
“What is Kendrick going to say?” Elspeth asked.
“Truth be told, I’m not entirely sure,” Genevieve said. “I will give you a full report when we return. Or I’m sure Robbie will as well.”
“He volunteered to keep me company, but I told him to go and hear the news in person,” Elspeth said, a lopsided smile on her face.
“That was sweet of him.” Genevieve studied her face. “Is everything all right, Elspeth?”
Her friend looked up from the lacework in her lap. “Yes, of course. Why?”
“I… I suppose it feels like things are moving so quickly, and…we’ve spent the last two decades together, for the most part. I wasn’t sure if you felt similarly strange.”
Elspeth’s mouth trembled for a second, but then her smile steadied. “Itisstrange, and change is hard, but I am happy for you, truly.”
“And I spoke to Kendrick—he offered rooms for you and Sparrow here, once we have more of the house furnished. There are floors and floors of them, after all. You don’t have to return to the Ossuary.” Genevieve raised her eyebrows at her friend. “I believe he’s planning to offer residence to Robbie and Joseph as well.”
Elspeth licked her lips. “How kind. And just think—we won’t have to bother with packing.”
When Kendrick came looking for her, he found them holding on to each other, trying to muffle their laughter, lest they wake Fletcher and the dog.
Looking out at the sea of vampires squeezed into the main room of the Ossuary, Genevieve realized just how many vampires there were in London, and just how many were trapped underground. “Is this everyone?” she whispered to Etienne, who waited beside her.
“It’s everyone we could pinpoint as crucial or influential, and then everyone else we could get word to. Some of us will be appointed to carry the word and make sure everyone hears in the coming days.”
“And…do you know exactly what we are to hear?” Kendrick had asked her to come and stand with him when she heard her cue. But he had neglected to mention what that cuewas.
“Exactly?Non. But I have an idea.”
Kendrick looked at their knot of people—Etienne, Addie, Joseph, Robbie, Dominic, and a few other vampires she did not recognize—at the head of the room. He nodded to them and then ascended the dais. The crowd, which had been murmuring and humming with tension and speculation, hushed. She could have heard an inhaled breath. But they were all vampires, and they did not breathe.
Kendrick looked out upon the sea of assembled vampires, studying their faces. Finally, he spoke.
“My name is Kendrick. I was born sometime between the Romans leaving Britain’s shores and the Normans arriving. I lived under the sun thirty-odd years before dwelling in the dark until now. I killed Rupert, and so I gained his position and property, and by precedent, that made me Master of the Ossuary. But I don’t wish to be your master. You are not my serfs or slaves. You are my people, and I would rule justly, for the betterment of all.
“Kings, in days long past, did not just receive tribute from vassals. They exchanged oaths with those under them. In return for oaths of loyalty and service, kings vowed to provide security, justice, help in need. If kings broke those oaths, it would absolve their vassals of their oaths as well.”
He turned to glance at Genevieve, and she stared at him, breathless. He swung the sword from his shoulder and ran the blade along his arm, wetting the blade with his blood. He set his hand on it.
“This oath I make to you now, as your lord: I will provide security and protection for all vampires under my rule. I forbid all wrongful deeds of murder, robbery, and abuse, no matter their station, and will forswear those who commit them. And I will provide justice and mercy in all judgments…so that, when we are given our final judgment at the end of the world, we may acquit ourselves honorably.” He looked over at Genevieve once more.
